Taking it to the Wastes
by walshy122381595
Summary: The Vault is safe. The Vault is clean. Most of all, to Jake Rickard the Vault is home. When he is forced to escape in an attempt to find the father that left without warning, he is thrust into an unknown world of chaos and uncertainty. Can Jake, alongside his greatest friend and ally, get the answers he seeks?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: "You're growing up too fast, my son."

**NOTE: I'd just like to preface this with: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THIS. I know Bethesda is uptight about this sort of thing, and I don't particularly feel like getting myself sued. Furthermore, whilst this fanfic quite obviously is based off the plot of Fallout 3, there are some things that are unique to this story. It doesn't strictly adhere to the the story of the game, in that dialogue, characters, items, and even plot elements may be unique to this fanfic. In any case, sit back, relax and enjoy :)**

Light. Dazzling, bright and blinding light. It filled his vision as the cold metal door hissed and slid open. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but as they did he was pleasantly surprised. Before him was the cafeteria, decked out with streamers, balloons, signs, party hats... Essentially everything associated with a party. People were jumping up and down, yelling sentences along the lines of, "Happy Birthday!" or "Cake time!". Jake grinned broadly, his lips parting in a toothy flash.

The group calmed down a little, and most went back to what they apparently been doing prioor to his arrival. The crowd seemed to part around a tall man, with greying hair and a serious face. He clasped his hands in front of him, addressing Jake with a level, deep voice. "Happy Birthday, young man. 10 years old, my my... Growing up so fast. But you do know what that means, don't you? You're now officially old enough to start doing small work assignments. How... exciting." Jake managed to suppress a grimace at that. "But, you also probably know what comes with being 10 years old. As the Overseer of Vault 101, I'd like to present you with your very own Pip-Boy 3000. Here," he extended a metal wristband looking contraption, with a glowing green display. Jake accepted the gift gratefully, slid it on and watched as the metal clipped around his arm, adjusting automatically to the shape and size of his wrist. Jake smiled as the display pulsed green and powered up properly. Multiple icons were present on the touch-screen, one for audio files, one for video files and the other for the user to input his or her own text. A slot on the back end of the device allowed for discs to be slotted in and new software loaded and installed. This included maps, medical software and even military upgrades (these were generally used during the war to give an in-battlefield advantage over the enemy, but could still be found from time to time in the deepest storage areas of the Vault). Satisfied with his new piece of technology, Jake clicked the Pip-Boy onto standby by puushing a small red switch on the tip right of the actual device.

The Overseer smiled a tight smile, one that was clearly not the slightest bit genuine and continued. "I also have this for you," he said slowly, handing Jake a small black disk. "Slot that into your Pip-Boy and it will load your class timetable oto it. You can access and view it any time you want, after that. That seems to be it, I think. Enjoy your birthday while it lasts. You're not 10 every day."

Jake grinned his bright, toothy grin again. "Thanks, Alphonse," he said, almost laughing. He could see in the Overseer's eyes that he despised being addressed by his first name. Jake had only ever heard one other person call hm that: his father. James never addressed the Overseer by his title, much to the Big O's distaste. Seeing as he was James' son, it only made sense that he did the same, right?

The Overseer turned away and moved off to sit with Old Lady Palmer. As he left, Jake heard him grunt, "The apple didn't fall far from the fuckin' tree..."

Shrugging it off with no further though, Jake stayed put as his more prefered member of the Almodovar family rushed over to say hello. Short, brown haired and sporting a bright red party hat, Amata. Daughter of the Overseer and only a few months younger than Jake. She was his one true friend in the Vault. Well, excluding Jonas. But he was more of a brother (from another mother) than a friend. That made Jake wonder; could you be brothers and still be best friends? Do brothers have a better friendship than regular friends? He thought it could be possible, yes. That settled it. Amata and Jonas were his two best (and possibly only) friends in the entire Vault.

"Happy Birthday, Jakey! I bet we surprised you, didn't we?" Her voice was sweet and kind, as it always was. To tell the truth, they really had surprised him. That prompted a question.

"You really did, Amata, thanks! Did you organise it yourself?" Jake was genuinely curious about the answer, and wasn't just making simple smalltalk.

"Not really... Your dad did most of the work, but I did the invitations and decorations and stuff." She was smiling widely, clearly hoping for his approval.

"It looks great, Amata. You and dad did a really great job. Thank you," he added, meaning it sincerely.

"Aw, you already said thanks once. I guess twice means you _really_ mean it, huh?" Amata pulled him into a tight hug, to which he replied in kind. "Happy Birthday, Jakey," she said, once again using the name that Jake only allowed her to use. He didn't even let his dad call him that. It was something special between the two of them, something that sort of set them apart from all the other friends in the Vault.

Amata let go of Jake, and excited look on her face. "Oh, I almost forgot! I got you something. Can you guess what it is?" Jake considered making a joke involving a date with Christine Kendall, one of their birth group members. He decided against it and simply said, "I haven't got a clue. What is it?"

She dashed over to the cafeteria counter, where James and Stanley the aging engineer were sitting. Snatching up something and rushing back over as fast as she could, she extended it before him. "Ta-da! Who's your favourite barbarian? That's right, it Grognak, issue #14." Amata handed it to Jake, who grasped it wide-eyes, already beginning to flick through the pages in awe. It was in pristine condition. "There aren't even any pages missing. I found it in a box full of my dad's old stuff, could you believe it...? I guess even he was 10 once, too. Anyway, Jakey, I hope you like it. Happy Birthday."

"Thank you so much, Amata, this is awesome." Jake was estatic, and couldn't wait to get some peace and quiet to read in.

"You're welcome! Now go and enjoy your party!" With that, Jake's friend dashed off to sit with her father and Old Lady Palmer, hair bobbing as she went.

Sliding the timetable disc into a pocket on the outside of his jumpsuit and placing his new comic in a larger one on the inside, Jake set about greeting all of the guests. He quickly chatted with Old Lady Palmer, who rambled on a bit but was always very kind to him. she even gave him a sweetroll as a birthday present, despite Jake insisting that she needn't get him anything. With a curt nod to the Overseer, Jake strolled off to where his father and Stanley were sitting.

"Well look here, we've got ourselves a young man now!" Stanley joked, noticing Jake's arrival. "How does it feel to have hit the big one-oh?"

"Not much different, to be honest," Jake said, somewhat glumly. "I'm still not big yet."

"Are you kidding me?" Stanley laughed. "Jake, that's as big as you need to get, if you ask me. Any bigger and you'll start growing pimples and chest hair. No-one wants THAT, do they?"

Jake chuckled as Stanley ruffled his messy blonde hair. "I guess you're right, Stan. I wouldn't mind having bigger muscles though..."

"Jake, despite what Butch and his gang think, being bigger and stronger than everyone else isn't always a good thing. Just because they're a tad larger than you now, doesn't mean you won't catch up. Got it? Good man."

"Thanks, Stan."

"No problem, kiddo. Oh hey, like that new Pip-Boy?" Stanley inquired.

"Oh, nice piece of hardware, son," James commented, examining the device on his arm. "Is that the 3000?" he asked.

"Mhmm, fixed it up myself," Stanley replied, taking a sip from his drink.

"Really? Thanks, Stan, it's working great so far."

"Not a problem, Jake. I personally think the 3000 is better than the newer models. Sure, it's bigger and heavier, but it's sturdier and won't break as easy. And just think how much that extra weight is gonna help build those muscles, huh?" Jake chuckled along with the two adults. He was enjoying his party quite a bit. "Alright, kiddo, run along now," James said.

"Gotcha, dad."

As Jake turned to return to the fray of the party, Andy, an all-purpose robot with several mechanical arms, fired up its buzzsaw arm. It hovered in front of the birthday cake, quite clearly looking to cut it.

With a roar and splatter, the cake was suddenly everywhere. Andy's buzzsaw was probably not the best option for cutting the cake, and had resulted in the cake being completely and utterly destroyed. Jake laughed as he picked pieces of icing and cream off of his blue and yellow Vault jumpsuit, licking the mess off his fingers. Stanley wasn't as pleased though. "God damn, good for nothing, hunk of scrap metal. I thought I'd calibrated everything properly..."

Shaking his head in mock exasperation, Jake found himself a seat next to Amata, who he shared his sweet roll with. Considering the cake was now destroyed, he may as well share with someone, right?

Almost as soon as he had finished, he was confronted. Butch DeLoria, tall for his age, brown hair slicked back and fists perpetually clenched, was the Vault asshole. Constantly picking fights with Jake and bullying Amata, it was quite safe to say that the pair weren't greant fans of him.

"Oi, nosebleed," he said, shoving Jake in the shoulder. "That damn robot destroyed the cake, and now there's nothing to eat. Give me that sweetroll you got from Old Lady Palmer."

Jake got to his feet, standing just a few inches shorter than Butch. Their eyes locked and the pair were staring daggers at each other, while Amata cowered behind Jake, munching on the last bit of her half.

'Sorry Butch," Jake smiled. "Already eaten it. Oh but here," he added, picking a bit of cream off his jumpsuit and flicking it in Butch's face. "There's something for you."

Butch fired up, face going red and fists raising. "I'll teach you, you little punk..." Butch swung his fist in a large arc, trying to connect with jake's jaw. Jake didn't really know how to fight, but a simple arm in the crook of Butch's elbow stopped the blow dead in its tracks. Before Butch could throw another punch, Officer Gomez had seized him by the collar of his leather jacket and was dragging him back to his booth seat. "Sit the hell down, Butch. You'd better behave yourself, or you'll get extra hours on your next 100 work assignments. Got it?"

"Yes, Officer. Sorry, Officer," Butch grumbled into the table. As soon as Gomez turned, Butch was once again leering at Jake. Jake brushed it off, and faced Gomez who was now talking. "Sorry, kids. Butch has been a pain, ever since he was born. Let me know if he troubles you again. Happy Birthday, Jake."

Jake sighed as Gomez took a seat near James and Stanley, who was angrily examining the back of Andy. "Is that reall all that he's going to do about it? Give him a stern talking to?"

"Apparently," Amata agreed. "Hey, I thought that was really brave. You know, standing up to Butch and all that. Not many people would do that. He's pretty intimidating."

Jake flexed his muscles in mock bravado. "Yeah but check me out, my guns are huge!"

Amata giggled, "Yeah they're _massive_, Jakey. You would absolutely _destroy _him..."

"Ok it started out funny, but no you're just being mean," Jake said, putting on a serious face that was quite obviously fake.

Amata giggled again. Jake was aboout to say something else when he heard a buzzing coming from the wall. It was the intercom panel, coming to life with static and general noise. He could faintly hear a voice, but it was muffled further as his father moved to answer the call. "Yep," he heard James say. "Ok, no problem. Thanks Jonas."

Jake watched in interest as his father clicked off the intercom and waved him over. "Jake, that was Jonas on the intercom. He and I have been working on a surprise for you. Come on, down in engineering."

Jake waved a quick goodbye to Amata, then led his dad down to the engineering section of the Vault (despite knowing the way anyway, he pulled up a map of the Vault on his Pip-Boy and used that to navigate through the metal encased corridors). Down in the engineering bay, he spotted a dark skinned man with glasses and a shaved head waiting for him. "What are you doing down here, young man," the man said, his voice deep and flecked with laughter. "Children aren't allowed down here."

"Oh come on, Jonas! I'm 10 years old, you can't really call me a child anymore..."

Jonas laughed heartily. "No, I guess not. Every day you're getting bigger and stronger, smarter and more mature. Nothing we can do about that now, is there?"

"No, I guess not," Jake smiled, mimicking Jonas.

"Anyway, Jake, your father and I have been putting together a present. If you'd like to do the honours, James..."

James stepped forward, retrieving something from inside a steel case in the corner of the room. He turned, presenting it to jake. It was long and wooden, with a few visible mechanical parts. He had seen similar things in photos before, but never quite like this. "Here you go, your own BB gun!" James proclaimed, giving it to Jake. He examined it up and down, taking in all of its glory. "We couldn't exactly give you a real rifle, but this is pretty similar."

"Thank you so much, dad. And you too, Jonas," Jake said, meaning it as sincerely as possible. "But... I can't shoot it in here can I?"

"Don't worry, we've sorted that out too. Come with us." Jake followed close in tow behind Jonas as the three of them went through a small hallway. After a short walk, it opened up into a close chamber, with storage boxes lining the walls. Further into the room, it was difficult to pass due to a makeshift barricade having been set up. Beyond that were three targets at varying heights and distances. It was pretty easy to see what the room was intended for.

Jake looked in awe at the room, and almost jumped when James put a hand on his shoulder. He had almost forgotten that the other two were even there. "How do you like it, Jake?" James asked, a broad smile on his face. He needn't have asked the question. The answer was plainly written across Jake's face.

"I get my own shooting range?" Jake mumbled, almost not believing it.

"Yours and yours only, young master Rickard," Jonas answered. "Unless you choose to share it, of course."

It took Jake a minute to formulate the words for a reply. "I... this is... I love it!" he finally managed. "Can I shoot now?" he asked eagerly, gripping his new miniature rifle with excitement.

"You sure can," James said. He reached into one of the pockets in his clean, white lab coat, and pulled out a small clear capsule full of mini ball bearings. "You'll need these though," James informed, tossing Jake the capsule. "It's ammunition, all you need to do is slot that into the side of the gun, yeah just like that. Now push that bolt forward, there you go. I think the rest is best done by pointing and pulling the trigger."

Jake turned so that he was standing side on, facing towards the three padded targets. Bringing the BB gun up to shoulder height and peering down the wooden sights, Jake lined up his first target.

POP!

The ball bearing pinged into the edge of the closest target, to Jake's immense delight. Eager to fire another round, he squeezed the trigger twice more. Both rounds found their marks in two separate targets, however not quite as accurately as he would have hoped. "Well would you take a look at that!" Jonas exclaimed. "With a little more practice we're going to have a sharpshooter on our hands. Whatever shall we do then..."

"Cower in fear," Jake answered, and was met with laughter from the two older men.

James slapped his son on the shoulder with pride. "You'll need to slide that bolt back and forward after every five rounds, so it loads the next set of ball bearings. Oh, and if you ever need more ammunition..." He moved to one of the medium sized containers propped up against the wall of th room. "You'll find plenty of those capsules in here. It would be safe to say that there are over a thousand of them in there. God knows why... Oh and all this comes with one very important condition: Alphonse can _never _catch wind of this. Understand?"

"Yeah, no worries, dad. Al' won't ever hear about this."

Jonas shook his head in exasperation. "Like father like son," he murmured, more or less echoing the words of the Overseer.

Jake began to voice his thanks once again, but as he did so a sharp clicking noise resonated from behind the box barricade. Gripping his BB gun, Jake swivelled to peer over the top, and saw that a large, brown, scaly looking creature was scuttling around on the floor. it looked exactly the same as one of those cockroach insects he'd read about in Science class, except 10 times bigger.

"Radroach," James sighed. They were an occasional issue in the Vault. Despite looking relatively harmless at first glance, these creatures were known to devour humans when in larger groups. Just as he was trying to decide what to do about it, a perfect idea came to mind. "Reckon you can take it out, Jake?" he suggested. "Yeah, it shouldn't be a big deal," Jake replied, shouldering his gun once again. Taking aim at the creature's face, he let pop two rounds. The first collided with the Radroach's eye, splattering a yellow goo all over the ground and sending the roach skittering away. Because of the impact of the first round, the second merely pinged off the hard metal flooring and sailed into the pile of scrap on the far end of the room.

"We-hell, would you look at that!" James exclaimed. "Jake Rickard, Radroach slayer. Has a nice ring to it. Hey Jonas, get a picture of me and the big game hunter, you know, to mark the occasion." As James put his arm around Jake, who lifted his BB gun in triumph, and the flash of Jonas' camera went off, he had a single, saddening thought.

You're growing up too fast, my son.

**Author's Note: Yeah, ok, I know that this first chapter is essentially a retelling of the first section of the proper game, but what else could I do? Believe it or not, these events were essential to the character I had in mind. Plus, I sorta tried to personalise the story a bit with dialogue that isn't ripped straight from the game, so that's a bonys. I intend to keep it that way too, never taking anything too much straight much from the game. In any case, reviews would be muchly appreciated. Thanks guys :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: "A bright future"

**Note: Once again, I feel obliged to make clear that I definitely do NOT own anything associated with the Fallout series (but hey, a guy can dream :P). That is property of Bethesda and probably will stay that way for a while. Also I'd like to thank everyone that reviewed the first chapter, it was greatly appreciated and they definitely didn't go unnoticed. I'm semi-new to the site so I don't know the ins and outs yet, but if you'd like to ask me a question, feel free to send me a PM and I'll get back to you as fast as possible. But enough of all that, I know why you guys are here. On with the show :)**

POP! POP! POP!

Three quick blasts in than a second, a true testament to the skill and prowess that could be acquired by putting in hours upon hours of hard work. What furthered the remarkableness of the speed at which he shot, was the accuracy that coupled it. Each tiny metal ball found its mark, zinging into the padding with decisive purpose.

Jake grinned, one piercing blue eye still closed as he surveyed his handiwork. The ol' target pads were looking a little worse for wear these days. Pockmarked and fraying, there was no question that they had been put to extreme use over the last 6 years. Finally lowering his BB gun and releasing the cartridge, Jake let out his pent up breath. Today was a huge day. He had a good reason to be nervous, and so did everyone else in his birth-group. Today would make or break their lifelong dreams. Or at least that's what Mr. Brotch had been rambling on about for the last couple of months.

Placing his weapon in its custom made case (one that Jake had crafted himself a few years back) and switching the lights off, Jake began the arduous journey back to his room. It was certainly great having his own private shooting range, but the walk back "home" was a good 15 minutes. It wasn't all that bad though; he got to walk past Amata's room.

That was something that had earned a lot more of Jake's headspace over the last few years. Amata. Specifically his uncertain feelings toward her. They had grown up together, played together, bonded together. It would have been quite difficult to separate the two, or at least Jake liked to think so. Which was exactly why he was worried about the romantic feelings he'd developed for her over the last three or four years. They spent so much time together, that they had become the best of friends. To Jake, he wouldn't mind taking it that extra step and making their relationship exactly that: a relationship. To Amata... well, truth be told, he didn't really know what Amata thought or wanted. He'd always assumed that she'd be more comfortable staying friends with the boy she'd known for so long. It just seemed to click with her personality: why change something so drastically if there's the risk that said change could ruin it? To be frank, that was a shit way of looking at and describing it, but it was essentially what Jake assumed. Sometimes he wondered whether he should ask someone for advice about his situation. Then after he thought about it for a while, he came up with three answers: Number one, his father.

Now, James was a smart man. Jake knew that. He also knew that James wasn't exactly inexperienced with the fairer sex. Jonas had told him once or twice a few stories about James before he'd met Catherine, Jake's deceased mother. Then again, asking his father about seduction techniques would probably lead to a conversation that was as awkward as losing your virginity (not that Jake would know, to be perfectly honest). So no, that option was ruled out.

There was also Jonas. The man that Jake had never seen around a woman other than his sweet grandmother, Old Lady Palmer. Jake didn't exactly get the impression that Jonas had much of a clue when it came to this sort of thing.

The third and final option was probably both the best and worst of the lot: Amata. Would spilling his feelings be a good thing or a bad thing? Couldn't he just tell her and hope for the best? He could see that going extremely well, but then he could see it fucking up and going the complete wrong direction.

Jake sighed. He honestly had no clue what to do. The fact that today was the day he took the G.O.A.T was no help either.

The G.O.A.T, or Generalised Occupational Aptitude Test was specifically designed to evaluate what occupation you were best suited for. Everyone that resided in the Vault had to take it at the age of 16, no exceptions. Eachh birth-group (there was a strict birth-regime in the Vault, de to supply concerns. Children could only be born every 3 years, so as to limit overpopulation and overcrowding. Thus, each family generally had one child every 3 years) would sit the multiple exams as a class, the same class they had been in for the previous 11 years. Maths, Science, English, Philosophy, History and Geography were the subjects both taught and tested in Vault 101. For some reason unbeknownst to Jake, your skill level in each of these respective fields determined what you would or wouldn't be good at, in terms of a career.

Passing along the residential section of the Vault, he peeked in some of the windows. He saw people getting ready for the day ahead, yawning and stretching in their living rooms. The same routine, day in and day out, ever since they had reached the working age of 17. That was one of the weirder things about the Vault that Jake didn't quite understand: children took the G.O.A.T at 16, but spent a final year in class until they turned 17. Then they would pass into the profession they had been assigned, according to their results.

With a glum expression, Jaked keyed the numpad outside his apartment and stepped back as the door slid open. He gave a quick greeting to his father, who was snacking on an energy bar in the living room, then made his way to the bathroom where he started up the warm shower.

Jake began to ponder his future, as he often did these days. Everyone had an idea of what they wanted to do after finishing school and Jake was no exception. Ever since he had received his Pip-Boy on his 10th birthday, he had been fascinated with it. Always tinkering and messing around with it secretly, he knew the thing as well as he knew himself. There wasn't a wire or screw in the device that Jake didn't know about. When Stanley first showed him how to take the casing off to clean and maintain the Pip-Boy, his interests skyrocketed. It was then, five years ago, that he knew he wanted to become a Pip-Boy engineer. From then on he took every chance he could to get Stanley to teach him new methods and tricks. He learned how to replace the Pip-Boy's geiger counter, clean and re-install the lights. By the time he reached the age of 16 he knew basically everything there was to know. There was nothing about a Pip-Boy that could confuse or stump him. In short, Jake was perfect for the job. All he needed to do was get the right marks.

After he'd shampooed his hair, brushed his teeth and "combed" his hair (ruffled it with his hand in a relatively neatish fashion), Jake slipped into a Vault jumpsuit and went for some breakfast. Normally he'd just grab something out of the fridge, but this morning he had a craving for a milkshake. Heading out the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly, he made his slow way to the Vault cafeteria.

It was all but abandoned this morning, and no surprise there. Mostly teenagers came here in the mornings before class, and no doubt some of them were cramming for tests or just getting having breakfast in their apartments. Satisfied with the fact that he at least had some peace and quiet, Jake punched in the code necessary to get himself a banana milkshake from a Vault-Tec dispenser. After a sufficient amount of frothy milk had spilled into a tall glass, Jake took a seat in the corner of the Cafeteria, the same place he had sat with Amata on his 10th birthday. Since then, these had become their seats and even though she wasn't there with him, he felt obliged to still sit there. The serenity of being slightly away from everyone else was kind of nice.

It didn't him long to down the milkshake, place the glass on the sink on the other side of the counter, leave and begin to head of down to the classroom. He would be a little early, but he didn't mind. Better to be early and ready, than late and unprepared.

Strolling steadily and taking in the miserable feeling that the Vault gave off, Jake felt increasingly worried about the exams (if that was even possible). Just the finality of these tests on the course of his life was so suffocatingly worrying; finishing them would make his year. Although, he could think of a few other things that would improve the day...

As if summoned by his thoughts, as he rounded the corner he spotted Amata. His familiar toothy grin spreading across his face, Jake went to call out to her. Just as he started, he noticed the people with her. Tunnel Snakes, he thought grimly.

Butch DeLoria, tall, brown hair slicked back, well muscled and a downright bastard, was leaning against the wall with confidence. He was staring at Amata, or more specifically Amata's body, whilst his buddies Paul Hannon and Wally Mack flanked her, keeping her boxed in. Jake clenched his teeth, knowing full well what could happen here.

"Boys," Jake said, his deep voice echoing with confidence. "What the hell's going on here?"

Butch stood up straight, trying to use his height to intimidate Jake. Sadly, that tactic had been long since ineffective; when Jake was 14, he finally hit a growth spurt. Standing now at 6"1 and still growing, Jake had a good two or three inches on Butch and Hannon, the tallest of the group. On top of that, in an effort to become bigger and stronger, Jake had begun lifting weights in the recreation room with some of the Security Officers over the last year. His body was toned with iron-like muscle, even though it didn't look like it.

"None of your business, asshole," Butch spat. "Now fuck off, and let us get back to business with daddy's girl here..."

Wally cackled at that, and Hannon joined in too. Ignoring the smirks on their faces, Jake pushed Wally aside (with more force than intended, sending him stumbling back a few metres) and moved to Amata's side. "Sorry, kids. Party's over. Now why don't _you _fuck off, Butch, before you cop a broken nose."

Butch smiled in delight at that, enjoying the invitation to start a three-on-one brawl. "I'm gonna give you one last chance, Rickard. Get out of the way, or the three of us are gonna have some kickin' to do."

"Be my guest, motherfucker," Jake replied defiantly. Behind his back, he quickly gave Amata's arm a squeeze, reassuring her and pushing her slightly backwards out of the way at the same time.

Butch cracked his knuckles. "Tunnel Snakes, fuck him up!" He stepped forward quickly, but not as quickly as Jake's lightning fast kick. It connected with Butch's gut, winding him and forcing him to double over. At that point Jake would have rocked a knee into his face, but Hannon was on him from the right. A parry here and a parry there, followed by a straight punch to the jaw was all that was needed to send Hannon into a windmilling action as he attempted to keep his balance. Turning back to face Butch, Jake grabbed him by the collar of his leather jacket and hurled him into the wall, stunning him and allowing hm enough time to aim a high kick at Wally Mack's head. The consequence was a dazed Mack, lying on the ground staring at the roof. After snapping a kick to his right to finish off Hannon, then turning to deliver a cracking slap at Butch, the fight was over. All three Tunnel Snakes were lying on the ground or against the walls, dazed and battered.

"Well you taught _me _a lesson, dickheads," Jake remarked. "You guys are stupid. Leave Amata alone." Jake faced Amata, who had an expression that looked like a mix between shocked and impressed. "Jake... how did you do that?" she asked breathlessly.

"You know how I've been training with the Officers in the rec room? Well, they taught me a thing or two while I was there. Figured it might come in handy one day," he added, glancing over his shoulder.

"It was impressive, to say the least," Amata smiled. "Thank you, Jake. Those idiots... I've had enough of them to last me a lifetime. I'm glad you did what you did."

"Hey, don't mention it." Jake smirked. "They had it coming, and I'm more than happy to serve it up for them. Come on, let's get inside." They stepped over Butch who was still looking a little out of it, rounded the corner and entered their classroom. Their teacher, Mr Brotch, a dark skinned man with a bit of attitude, greeted them and told them to take a seat. "The first test is Science. Mr Rickard, I expect you to ace this. We will begin in ten minutes."

Letting out his breath for the umpteenth time that day, Jake waited for the inevitable: the G.O.A.T.

The day dragged on with no forseeable end. The tests that were examined that day, Science, English and Mathematics didn't pose too much of a challenge to Jake, but he could clearly see Amata struggling. Her best subjects were the ones being tested the next day: History, Geography and Philosophy. She was by no means unintelligent, in fact she was quite the opposite. It just that Maths and Science didn't quite click with her like it did for Jake.

Finally the day was over, and the teenagers were let out of the classroom for a few hours of freedom before the 10pm curfew. Jake stretched and yawned, trudging out of the classroom with a glum expression. Just like today wasn't Amata's day, tomorrow wasn't going to be his day. Thinking to himself that another milkshake wouldn't be such a bad idea, he looked through the small crowd to try and locate Amata. He was stopped dead in his tracks though, when a short figure popped up in front of him.

"Hi, Jake," Christine Kendall said, her voice high and girly. "I was wondering... do you maybe wanna go get a drink with me or something?"

Jake thought for a moment. Christine, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, delicate features and hypnotising curves, was an amazingly beautiful girl. Pretty much every teenage guy in the Vault thought so, and to have her approach him like that? It was a slight confidence booster to say the least. "A drink?" Jake let out, instantly regretting the way he'd said it immediately.

"Yeah," she replied, bobbing up and down on her heels. "I was thinking that it could be... I dunno, kind of like a date?" It was then that Jake realised that a few people had heard what was going on and were watching, from afar of course. Amata included. Jake noticed the look on her face, and he swore it was one of fury.

"Christine, that sounds great, but..." He chose his words carefully. "I sort of had plans with someone else."

Her pretty face fell. "Oh," she said quitely. "That's OK, maybe some other time. Good luck tomorrow, Jake." With that she spun on her heel, linked arms with Susie Mack and together they left the room.

"God damn, Jakey," came a voice. Turning his head, he saw that Amata had joined him at the door. "You turned down Christine Kendall for someone else? You must have some incredible woman lined up tonight for that to happen..." Apparently the comment was meant to be in passing, because she continued onwards for the door.

"Amata!" he half called, getting her to turn around. "She actually is really incredible. If you'd like to join me, we can make good on what I said?"

Amata stared at him, almost disbelieving. Finally she said, "You really are a cocky bastard, you know that? Come on then, let's get this date started."

Jake grinned his familiar grin. This day was getting better already.

The date was, in Jake's eyes, perfect. The pair of them grabbed some milkshakes from the cafeteria, talked for a good long while and eventually began wandering the metal corridors of Vault 101. To be perfectly honest it wasn't much different from what they usually did.

Jake and Amata made their way to her apartment, where they bid each other good night. Smiling gladly, Jake watched as Amata went inside, then turned to leave. A hiss of the door reopening made him turn back to see what was going on. She was standing there, a smile identical to his. "You know this means we're dating now, right? Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"I can't say I'm disappointed with that, Am."

"You better not be, or i'll be really sad. Good night, Jakey," she finished, slipping back inside the door. With that, Jake headed off to his own apartment, feeling as happy as he could have possibly imagined.

The next day of testing was equally as gruelling and tiring as the last, if not more so. The Philosophy test was the hardest, a two hour written essay answering the question: What is true happiness? Jake felt like he had a pretty good idea, following his date with Amata the previous night. More than once the pair caught each other's eyes and struggled to contain grins that would have given them away.

But then, eventually, the testing was over. With that, so was the G.O.A.T. It was a gigantic relief, not to mention a load off everyone's shoulders. Jake and Amata met up outside and hand in hand they went for a walk. They didn't go anywhere in particular, just around. After about 20 minutes of exploring, Jake had an idea. Pulling Amata along by the hand, he set off for his destination.

"Where are we going?" she asked, almost jogging to keep from him pulling her over.

"I want to show you something. Something special," he answered.

It didn't take them long to reach the engineering bay, and even less time for Jake to convince Jonas to let them in (Jake had simply said he was with Amata, and the older man had let them in without a second thought). Still pulling Amata along, he led her through a sliding metal door and into his shooting range.

Amata stared in wonder, taking in everything. The piles of crates stacked with ball bearing casings, the three identical targets further into the room, the piles of missed shots behind the barricade. Jake.

"What is this place?" she asked softly, still staring.

"It's my place," he said simply. "I come here to shoot this." Reaching down to open the specially made BB gun case, he pulled it out and extended it to her. "Here."

She took it in her soft hands, examining it up and down. "Jakey, this is... really cool. When did you get it?"

"Dad and Jonas gave it to me for my 10th birthday, all those years ago. Ever since then I've been coming down here to shoot at those targets. I'm getting kinda good, to be honest."

"Yeah? Show me then," she smiled, passing him back the gun. He took it gladly, slipping in a cartridge that she passed him. Swivelling on the spot to face the targets, he closed one eye and took aim.

POP! POP! POP!

He fired the three shots in under a second. Once again his aim was impeccable, and each target had a brand new pinprick in the dead centre. "There, you see?" Jake said. "6 years of practice goes a long way."

"I'm very impressed. Can you do it with both eyes closed?" Amata challenged.

"I could try, I don't know how well I'd do though," Jake accepted, sliding the bolt to load a new set of rounds. He closed both eyes this time, allowing darkness to sweep across his vision. Holding his breath to keep his aim steady, Jake let his index finger tighten around the trigger but stopped as he felt something touch his face. Soft, smooth and warm, he could tell it was Amata's hand. It slid from his cheek up over his nose and eventually rested over his eyelids, making sure that he couldn't actually see. "You don't trust me," Jake inquired, amused.

"Just making sure, Jakey. Cheating isn't fair."

He held his breath again. Took aim again. All with his eyes closed.

POP! POP! POP!

"Oh my god..." Amata breathed. Her hand fell away, and Jake could see that he had done the job properly. "You actually did it. That, Jakey, is _very _impressive."

"What can I say? Practice makes-"

Jake was unable to finish his sentence as Amata's lips met his, softly but purposefully. He kissed her back eagerly, gleeful and suddenly even more happy than he thought was possible. All was right with the world, that moment made it all seem so perfect.

Amata broke off the kiss, smiling and placing a hand on his chest. "Alright, Jakey. Let's see if you can hit the targets with a little pressure..."

**A/N: I know I'm spending a lot of time on events in the Vault, but trust me, the time is well spent on character development and such. Don't worry, things will start picking up the pace soon, if that's what you awesome readers are worried about. Once again, I tried to personalise this a little bit so that it doesn't seem stale, because hey, that's the whole point of this fanfic. To do with the Fallout universe what I will :) I hope you enjoyed this part, and I'll try and update the next one within the week. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - "Nothing lasts forever"

**Note: As per the usual, I'd just like to take these 100 words or so to mention that I definitely do NOT own any part of the Fallout series, that is the property of Bethesda and they'd sue me if I said otherwise. And being sued isn't fun, because having money is good and not having money is bad. Please, enjoy this chapter because it was particularly easy to write for some reason, and I enjoyed it. Oh, and you see that big ol' rating that says 'M'? That's for a reason. Only read on if you're of a proper age, due to violence, coarse language and potential sexy times. Thanks guys :)**

The beeping. Oh fucking christ, the damn beeping. His arm lazily swatted in the air next to his bed, trying desperately to find the alarm. Where the hell was it?

SMACK.

Jake pounded the snooze button with his fist and instantly regretted it. He sat bolt upright and observed the small device to see if anything had been broken. Thankfully no. He would have kicked himself if he'd destroyed his own creation.

Flopping back onto the soft matress and pulling the covers up around his shirtless chest, Jake rubbed his eyes. God he hated getting up this early. Every morning it was the same; wake up at 6:30 to the ear piercing beeping and head off to work a 10 to 14 hour shift, depending on how much crap in the Vault was broken. It was tiring, repetetive and frankly he wasn't getting paid enough. The job of a Vault Technician was almost unbearable, he thought. But then again, the sight next to him made the day a whole lot better.

Amata was lying next to him, stark naked and still out for the count. She was his support system, in a way. Whenever he was down in the dumps, she seemed to brighten everything up just that little bit. It wasn't a one way street though, he gave her all the support he could muster whenever she needed a pick me up. Jake never failed to admit that she was a wonderful girlfriend.

Yawning and swinging his legs out of bed, Jake headed for the shower. He didn't dare disturb Amata just yet. They'd been up late the previous night (letting some stress out, as she so seriously called it) and she didn't need to be up for at least another hour. It was best to just let her get as much rest as possible.

Three years. Three years it had been since the G.O.A.T, which meant three years since their relationship had kicked off. They had been an extremely good three years, to put it simply. Both Jake and Amata had passed their G.O.A.T with flying colours, earning the positions they wanted. Jake was taken under Stanley's wing as the Vault Technician, Amata went into administration like her father, and Butch... well, Butch would be cutting and trimming hair for a good long while at his very own hairdressing saloon. When Jake thought back on everything, it seemed to have gone so quickly. Playdates with Amata at the ripe old age of four years, his 10th birthday party, receiving his Pip-Boy. Shooting his BB gun for the first time, crafting its case out of junk he found around the Vault, taking apart and cleaning his Pip-Boy for the first time. Sharing his first kiss with Amata at 16, their first night together at 17. Waking up next to her this morning. All was still right with the world, with the exception of him having to get up at this ungodly hour.

Jake hit the tap and stepped out of the shower, dried off and slipped into his standard Vault 101 jumpsuit with the addition of a pair of skintight black gloves that were used to keep grease off his hands. Leaving the bedroom, Jake stepped into the small kitchen that was completely his. In fact, this entire apartment was his. Following his beginning to work, Jake had stepped out of the care of his father into his own responsibilities. It was scary and challenging at first, especially with no-one else around. After a while, though, Amata began to spend as many nights in the apartment as he did. From then on he never quite felt as alone as he did before.

A slow breakfast of Sugar Bombs served to treat Jake's hunger and keep him from falling asleep again. The simple task of munching on the sugary treats kept him busy enough that his eyelids didn't droop or close. As he was finishing up, he heard movements from the bedroom. Amata stumbled out of the room and into the dining area, wearing one of Jake's plain white shirts and her underwear. Her beautiful long hair loose around her shoulders and messy from sleep, but it gave her a more natural look than when she tied it back in a ponytail. Flashing his grin, Jake placed his bowl in the sink and then planted a kiss on her lips. "Morning, Am. Sleep well?" Jake asked, moving to the lounge where he had left his toolbox the night before.

"When I finally got to sleep, yeah," she replied, winking. "You have to go _now_?"

"Yep. Stanley's gettin' along in years, he can't do much anymore. Besides," he added, wrapping her in a big hug, "someone's got to take over eventually. Sooner than later, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. What time do you have lunch? I might be able to catch a break and come see you."

"Around 1, I think. I'm not quite sure, how about I come and find you?"

"Sounds good. Jakey," she said, after giving him another quick kiss and watching him head for the door. He turned back slightly, hand on the door switch. "Yeah, Am?"

"I love you."

Jake grinned his familiar grin. "I love you too. See you for lunch."

He headed out the door, flicking the switch to close the window shutters, and into the close, metal corridors of Vault 101. The first stop for the day would be the Technician office where he would meet up with Stanley and file through the to-do-list. Most days there wasn't all that much to do, maybe a dysfunctional Pip-Boy or two here, an unco-operative door there. Some days the pair of them just got absolutely swamped with problems and had to work extra long shifts. Those were the hardest days, especially with an already early start.

Stanley wasn't there when Jake arrived at the office, so he unlocked the storage cupboard and pulled out his toolbox. He started getting ready to go, just killing time for when Stanley arrived and gave him his first job for the day. Five minutes passed, then ten. Fifteen, twenty. Jake was becoming increasingly more restless with every passing moment, partly worried about where Stanley was, and partly bored out of his mind. Finally getting fed up, he keyed his Pip-Boy and brought up the walkie-talkie application he had installed on his first day as a technician. "Stanley, where are you?" Jake said, speaking into his wrist. "You're 20 minutes late and I'm just sitting around doing nothing."

There was some static for a moment, giving Jake more cause for concern. Suddenly Stanley's voice echoed through the device. "Sorry, kid. You're gonna have to come all the way down to the Vault door. Believe it or not, this thing's unlocked itself. Don't ask me how, because I have no fucking clue. I need you down here to analyse the computer, see if this is a cyber thing. God damn things never clicked with me... Think you can be here in 10?"

Jake rubbed his tired eyes. "Yeah, Stanley. I'll be there in 5." Clicking the Pip-Boy onto standby and lifting his heavy toolbox in one hand, Jake set off quickly to the Vault door.

How could it be messing up? This had never, ever happened before. Vault-Tec had designed them way too well. Then again, everything else in the Vault seemed to crap itself once in a while. He wouldn't be surprised if someone had messed with the door though, it _did _seem too reliable for anything to have broken or short-circuited.

Jake arrived on the scene to see Stanley hunched over a panel in the wall, sweat dripping off his nose. He was shadowed by two Vault Security Officers, Officers Park and Wolfe who patrolled an area of the Vault that included the door. "Hold up there, Rickard," Park said, stopping Jake by placing a hand out in front of him. "Need to check you for weapons, I'm afraid. Just a precaution, you know how it is."

"Are you kidding me, Park? Why the hell would I be sneaking weapons around?" Jake argued, not exactly excited for the pat down.

"Rickard, you know the drill. The Overseer's enforcing tighter security these days, and when he heard about the door malfunctioning this morning, he's doubled everything." Park got so close to Jake's face that he could almost count each folicle of facial hair. "He's told us to keep a close eye on you specifically, seeing as you're banging his daughter. So. How about you let us check you for weapons, or we'll let slip to the Overseer that his little princess is pregnant. Sound reasonable?"

Scowling and forcing himself not to knock Park out, Jake submitted to the more than violating search. After satisfied that Jake wasn't concealing a 10mm or a switchblade, Park let him through to talk to Stanley. "Fuckin' prick," Jake muttered when Park was out of earshot.

"What's got ya rustled," Stanley asked kindly. "The security assholes being assholes again?"

"Park threatened to tell Alphonse that I knocked Amata up unless I submitted to a pat down. Why the hell would I even think about carrying a weapon around in this place? I can do all the damage I need with my hands and feet.."

Stanley glanced anxiously over at Wolfe, who was about 15 feet away. "Don't let them hear that, kid. Who knows what they'll lock you up for." Satisfied that Jake would behave himself, he wiped his forehead with a slightly dirty rag and began to explain the issue. "Alright, kid. This has got me stumped so bad I haven't got the slightest clue about what to do. From what I can tell, the door's mechanisms itself aren't the issue, they look to be in perfect working order. I mean look at this," he indicated the open panel. Jake crouched down and examined the insides, and confirmed that Stanley was right. No fraying of wires, no nothing. Everything looked in top shape. "You see it right, nothing's wrong with it! Even over here behind these other panels, it looks in perfect working order. I should have called you down earlier, I mean this has to be a software issue, right?"

Jake scratched at the day old stubble forming on his jaw, which he had forgotten to shave that morning. "I guess so, if there's nothing visibly wrong with the locking mechanisms then I'll have to run a diagnostic on the door's terminal. It'll probably take an hour or two to check the entire system but it'll most likely pick up any viruses or malicious software effecting the system." Still scratching, Jake entered the small glass windowed office that was located near the door and logged onto the terminal. He punched in a few codes, passwords and access numbers but soon enough he was into the mainframe of the door and had complete control over it. From here he could even open the Vault now that it was unlocked, exposing them to sights that hadn't been seen since it was closed 200 years ago. Despite the temptation and curiosity, Jake knew that Park would arrest and beat the ever-living shit out of him even if he tried to. He simply tried re-locking the door remotely, but the terminal just threw up an error screen. Forcing himself to behave, he set up a quick program to sweep the system and find any intruding software. Once the culprit was found (assuming there _was _a culprit) he could then easily destroy and remove it without leaving his seat. Settling back for a moment, then rejoining Stanley, Jake was in for a long and hopeful wait.

"I don't understand. I just don't get it..." Jake muttered, thumping his fist against the wall. It had been two hours since he had set the sweeper program up, and it had since then finished. Without finding a single god damn thing.

"Are you sure it was effective enough?" Stanley asked hopefully. "Maybe a stronger program could flush it out or something?"

"No, that should have been 100% effective. If there's anything in there," Jake pointed angrily at the terminal screen, "that program would have found it. I'm sure of it."

"You _are _the expert..." Stanley said glumly. "Fucking hell, kid, what do we do now?"

Jake looked at him with a shrug. "Your guess is gonna be infinitely better than mine. If you have no clue, then I'm as good as useless as well."

Stanley rubbed his eyes angrily. "What are we gonna tell the Overseer?"

"That we can't do anything about it, at least not right now. Maybe I can come up with another program to do a slightly stronger search, but if that one didn't find anything then I doubt another one could do it. But," he sighed, "I've gotta give it a shot. Give me until tomorrow morning, yeah?"

Stanley nodded. "I'll get the Overseer to station a permanent pair of Officers here until we get this sorted, and bolster patrols around this area of the Vault. It's not ideal, but we can't have anyone getting any smart ideas about leaving the Vault. The Overseer would get pissed right out of his tree over that... Good work today, kid. Go have a rest." Stanley slapped Jake on the shoulder and moved off down the hall on his way to the Overseer's office.

Giving the wall one last thump of annoyance, Jake packed up his stuff and headed back to the Technician office where he dropped it all off. A quick glance at his Pip-Boy told him that he had about half an hour or so before he was supposed to meet Amata for lunch, so he took the opportunity to have a refreshing shower and change into a fresh Vault 101 suit.

He found her inside the Overseer's office, where Stanley was busy talking away with the big O. As soon as she saw him her face lit up like a lightbulb into the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. Perfect straight, white teeth, a hint of dimples... He never ever wanted that smile to disappear, but as the saying goes, nothing lasts forever.

Grabbing hold of her hand, they set off for the cafeteria, talking about their days so far. While Jake had been busy trying to find an invisible cyber-culprit, Amata had been dealing with a screw up in the marking of the most recent batch of G.O.A.T tests. Someone hadn't been given the right marks according to their results, and a big uproar was taking place within the younger generation. Fortunately, Amata being as charismatic and intelligent as she was, was able to sort out the issue and calm everyone down.

Their conversation continued over a couple of drinks and some not-so-fresh sandwiches. They joked, laughed, even talked serious talk for a little while. Amata passed on the newest gossip, something involving Butch and Christine sleeping together. Jake sniggered at that, but also felt a little sorry for Christine. Everyone had heard the stories of Butch's weird tastes.

"Remember when she aksed you on a date, Jakey?" Amata said, smiling.

Jake laughed a short, barking like laugh. "Yeah, straight after the first day of the G.O.A.T I remember you had the scariest expression on your face, like she had killed me instead of asking me out."

"You could say I was a tiny bit jealous..."

"I don't think tiny is the right word, but sure we'll go with it." Jake earned himself a slap on the wrist for that. "Ow!" he said in mock shock and pain. "Damn, that actually kind of hurt."

"Good," Amata said, taking another bite of her sandwich. "You deserved it."

"Am I wrong?"

A pause as Amata tried to come up with something to throw back at him. "No," she finally grunted.

Jake grinned. "Victory, for Mr. Rickard."

The pair of them cleared away their leftovers and Jake began to walk Amata back to her office. "I really wish you didn't have to get back to work, you know," he said. "I've got the rest of the day off. I was hoping we could spend it together."

Amata raised an eyebrow slightly. "What exactly did you have in mind?" she asked.

Jake smiled slightly, his lips twitching upwards. Before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on hers, his right hand in her hair and the other on her lower back. She kissed him back eagerly, knowing full well what he wanted to do. They broke off the kiss a moment later, Amata blushing. "You know we can't do that in the hall, right?"

"I know a nice place we can go," Jake suggested, and then like a flash Amata was leading him off to his apartment, where the pair would have all the privacy they needed.

A hiss as the door opened. A clunk as it shut again. The two of them were too caught up to pay attention to where they were going, mouths together and hands wandering. Without warning, Jake caught his leg on the edge of the lounge and fell over backwards, pulling Amata with him. She fell right onto his hips, but their lips never parted. Slowly, Jake reached up and found the zip on the back of her jumpsuit. He tugged at it lightly, pulling it down inch by inch. He broke off the passionate kiss for just a moment and stared into her eyes as the suit finally fell away, leaving her on top of him, her cleavage bared and hanging there for him to revere.

Using all the strength he had at his disposal, he grasped her by the thighs and flipped her onto her back, so that he was standing over her. Allowing a moments respite, Jake undid his own jumpsuit, discarding it. His hands wandered along her legs, feeling the tone of them underneath the fabric of the bottom half of her jumpsuit. It was time to be rid of it.

Amata aided him in sliding the rest of it off, and then again when her underwear was revealed. They were then together, naked and hungry for each other.

As Jake moved himself between Amata's legs, the two of them let their breath out in sheer pleasure. No stress, no anger, no sadness. Just pure bliss and comfort existed between the pair, and they would have it no other way.

Jake was thankful he'd closed the shutters on his windows when he left that morning.

As the afternoon dragged on into the night, he waited. Waited in silence, contemplating what he was about to do. Could he really do it? Step out of the Vault, especially now that Stanley and Jake knew that someone was attempting it? The virus he had used to shut down the door's locking mechanism had been strong, extremely strong. It was also as stealthy as a Nightkin with a Stealth Boy. His son didn't know it, but his sweeper software had come extremely close to detecting the virus, and James knew that another attempt would reveal it. Jake had always been good with computers, just not quite as good as his father. Hell, maybe someday he would surpass him. For the moment James was content with the fact that his son was still oblivious to what was going on.

Gathering his gear into a backpack, James checked his Pip-Boy. The message he had recorded for his son was ready to be copied onto a holotape, of which he pulled from a desk drawer. Sliding it into the disc slot of his Pip-Boy and tapping a few icons, the holotape quickly copied the audio message. Once it was completed James slipped it out and placed it in his lab coat's front pocket. He would pass it on to Jonas, who would then give it to Jake. Hopefully the message would suffice to answer some questions. Hopefully it would keep Jake from trying to follow him out into the watseland.

James was ready. His bag of supplies was packed, his stealth boy ready to get him past the increased security by the door. All that was needed was to meet up with Jonas, and then he could leave.

Leave. Leave it all Vault, Jake, a certain future. No, he couldn't risk having doubts now. He had a mission to complete and there was no way he could even think of turning back now. If he did, all that he and Catherine had worked for would be for nothing.

Catherine...

Clearing his head, James slid the backpack on and left the apartment, never looking back.

**A/N: Thank you so very much for reading this chapter ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed it. Constructive criticism and general feedback on not only this chapter but the entire fic so far would be greatly appreciated, so I can find out whether you guys are enjoying it as it is. Oh by the way, do you guys prefer longer chapters (3-4.5k words) or would you prefer shorter ones (1.5-2.5k words)? Let me know, so I can sort out what to do in the future. See you in the next chapter. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - "Promises, broken and kept"

**NOTE: As I always do when I'm writing these chapters, I'd like to preface this by saying that I do not own Fallout 3, nor the series for that matter. Property of Bethesda, blah blah blah. Let's get cookin'.**

"Wake up, Jakey! Oh my god, oh my god, wake up! Come on, get your ass moving."

Jake peered through the slits of his eyelids as he slowly came to, waking up out of a dream he had already forgotten. His hand went to his face in an attempt to wake himself up a little, but also in a vain attempt to block out the yelling in his ears. Yelling. What the hell?

"Jakey, for god's sake get up. Come on, you need to hurry!" Jake sat upright to see Amata, dressed in a fresh jumpsuit and standing at the end of the double bed.

"Amata," he grunted, wiping sleep from his eyes. "What's wrong? What time is it?"

Huffing, Amata checked her Pip-Boy quickly. "4:37am, and everything god damn it. Jake... It's your father."

If that didn't wake him up, there wouldn't have been anything that could. Well, he could think of a few things that might but now was certainly not the time to even be thinking about stuff like that. "Is he OK? Jesus christ, tell me he's OK Amata!"

"I... I don't know. Jake," she interjected as he began to question her. "All I know is that he's left the Vault."

"What?"

"He's gone, Jakey. I don't know how he got past all the guards but somehow he did and now he's gone. I'm sorry."

"Fuck, he was the one that crashed the locking mechanism? Shit, dad. That was some virus..." Jake looked at Amata, dead in the eyes. They were filled with sadness and despair, and instantly he knew that she wasn't telling him something. "Amata... what are you leaving out. Be straightforward with me."

"They..." she seemed to choke on the words, and before she knew it Jake was at her side, an arm wrapped tight around her. "They killed Jonas, Jakey. They thought he was helping your dad, so they grabbed him and started interrogating him but took it way too far... Jakey, I can't believe this. You need to hurry, they're coming for you next. My father thinks that you covered for your dad on the terminal yesterday, and now he wants your head on a pike."

Jake clenched his teeth. There was no way in hell Alphonse was taking him alive, especially not after what they did to Jonas. "Amata... I love you. I trust you, but there's something I need to know: how do you know all of this?"

Amata raised her Pip-Boy wielding arm. "You're not the only one with a fancy walkie talkie. When I started studying under my father's eye he installed an application that allowed him to hear what I was doing whenever he wanted. Sort of like a hidden microphone, like they had back before the war. I managed to convince Stanley to modify it though, so that I could hear his side of things too, and block my end whenever I felt like it. You know... for special moments that I'd like to keep between us."

Jake nodded. It made sense to him. "OK... Amata I need to get out here. Follow my father. Obviously this place isn't safe for me anymore, and if there's one thing I need it's answers. Jonas is dead and Alphonse's turned to hunting Vaulties. I'm gonna need your help on this one."

"One step ahead of you, Jakey. I have a way out for you; there's a secret tunnel in my father's office, beneath his desk. I found out about it a few years back but he made me swear not to tell anyone. You can open it from his desk terminal. I'm sure cracking that won't be a problem for you, will it?"

"Let's hope not."

"Here," she added, placing multiple small items into his palm. Bobby pins, which she usually used for her hair. "Use them to open the door to his office, if you need to. It's how I always do it. Oh, and this." From the back of her jumpsuit, she pulled what looked like a pistol. Holy shit, it was. "It's my father's, but I managed to slip it out of his office after I heard what was going on. I hope you don't have to use it, but you have it just in case. I'll meet you at the door, OK? Good luck, Jakey." They embraced for a moment, lips touching lightly. Inevitably, the kiss came to an end and it was time for Amata to rush off, leaving Jake with a handful of bobby pins and a 10mm pistol.

Pocketing the bobby pins and taking a moment to see if the pistol was loaded (and it was, with a clip of 12 rounds) and to get his eye adjusted to the sights of the gun. Despite what Amata asked of him, and what he had promised... He knew that things could happen without warning, and it was more than likely that he _would _have to fire the gun eventually. He found the safety on the side of the gun, clicked it off and gripped the handle one last time before sliding it into a pocket on his hip.

Jake examined the room, looking for anything that might be of use to him. Backpack, yes. Bottles of purified water that he kept stocked in his apartment fridge, yes. He managed to find some stimpacks that he kept in one of the kitchen cupboards, some med-x painkillers and some junk food. If he was going to be heading out of the Vault, he wanted to be prepared for anything that might come at him. He'd heard the stories, just like everyone else. Mutated animals, people so far driven from sanity that they killed with a second thought. Jake truly was thankful for his newly acquired firearm.

As he headed out the door, Jake was immediately met with his first challenge. A shout that could be considered both shock and anger echoed down the hallway. Turning, Jake saw a Vault Officer standing about 15 metres down the corridor, tactical armour and protective helmet as his chosen apparel and a police baton as his prefered weapon. "Rickard! I'm gonna fuck- what the hell?" Just as the officer began towards him, a small brown mass crashed into his side, sending him tumbling to the floor. Then another, and another. Radroaches.

Jake dashed forward, picking up the baton that had skittered away when the officer was tackled to the floor by the irradiated creatures. Brandishing the weapon high, Jake advanced on the animals. He swung once, twice, thrice. The roaches flew off the man, battered, broken and crushed by the powerful blows that Jake delivered. The familiar yellow goo that Jake had seen before splashed the wall and floor. To his disappointment, it even flecked his jumpsuit a little.

Now that the roach threat had been dealt with, Jake turned back to examine the officer. He recognised him as Kendall, Christine's father. Although, recognition was a little difficult with the damage the radroaches had caused. Officer Kendall's face was almost completely torn to shreds, blood spilling down his front. Jake crouched down, bringing his eyes level with the man who had wanted to kill him. "Kendall. It wasn't me. Die happy, you bastard." With that, Jake set off again, heading for his father's office.

Medical supplies were a must. Stimpacks, med-x, radaway and rad-x would all be essential on the surface, no doubt. Jake needed to take whatever he could find, and the clinic was a great place for finding the necessities. Multiple stimpacks, some more med-x and a couple of rad-x tablets were soon stuffed away in his backpack, along with a few weird metal pieces in the shape of a circle. He had no idea what they were, but they were sitting in a case with the other supplies so he figured they might come in handy at some point.

Jake worked his way along the corridors, keeping well hidden when necessary. Officer Gomez and Andy the Mr. Handy robot passed him, but Jake decided it was best that he didn't let them see him at all. A few other Officers dashed by, seemingly on his trail but going in the complete wrong direction. There was nothing major like the radroach/Officer Kendall incident, but when he turned the corner into the last section of the residential area Jake was met with an unexpected sight.

Butch DeLoria, leather clad and trying hard to look tough was standing there, quivering. As soon as he spotted Jake, he dropped the act and began almost bawling. "Rickard, man, you gotta help me! My mum's trapped in there with the Radroaches, they're gonna eat her alive."

Jake shook his head in amazement. "I hope you understand how ironic this is, Butch."

"Yeah, whatever. Please, Rickard, you have to help!" Butch was obviously close to tears, but Jake really couldn't spare any more time waiting around. He needed to get going, and fast.

"Look, Butch. I can't help you. Take this," Jake passed him the police baton. "Go defend her yourself. I think you actually need to take a stand and do something yourself, without relying on someone else. Don't be a coward, Butch. She needs you. You'll thank me for this later."

Butch stared for a moment, his mouth hanging slightly open. "Yeah... yeah, I'm gonna save her. Hey, good luck out there man. You're gonna need it." With that, Butch hurried off around the corner and into his apartment, swinging strongly at the attacking Radroaches.

The next few turns took him into the atrium, where he spotted two individuals hunched over in the darkness. He could hear their mutterings, but only vaguely. They were purposefully being quiet so as not to alert any nearby security, or so Jake assumed. As Jake approached, he drew his 10mm as a precaution. Who knew how people in the Vault saw him, now that he and his father had caused a great fucking shitstorm.

The atrium suddenly lit up with the roar of gunfire. Muzzle flashes sprung from the ends of two 10mm pistols that belonged to the Vault security now entering from the opposite side of the room. Jake had a split second to throw himself to the ground behind one of the atrium's support structures, just metres to his left. As soon as he was safely behind cover he realised that the gunfire wasn't directed at him (it was impossible that it could have been, he was essentially shrouded in darkness), but rather at the figures crouched inside the room. Without seeing what was going on, Jake could easily tell what had happened. The splash of blood on the walls and floor, coupled with the double thump of bodies on metal gave him quite a good idea.

"Fucking idiots..." the voice was low and a little shaky. Jake thought he recognised it, but there was no way of telling in his adrenaline fuelled state. "Why couldn't they just stay in their god damn rooms."

"Rickard and his son stirred them." The second voice was a lot calmer than the first, filled with more authority. "Even if we arrest the kid, people are gonna uproar about leaving the door open. A couple of dead now won't make a difference. Take a note, buddy. This was the first kill, not the last." Jake could have sworn those words were directed at him.

Stepping out from behind his cover, pistol raised to shoulder height, left eye closed and both hands gripped tight around the handle of his weapon, Jake knew what was about to happen. He couldn't help it, it just started and he couldn't stop it. It was as if he had lost control of his own mind, and another more grim, dangerous and violent version of himself had taken over. One pull on the trigger, and then another. It was over. Both pieces of hot lead had found their mark in the chests of the Officers. Despite their body armour Jake had found the gap that he needed.

Following two thumps all to familiar to his ears, Jake Rickard moved to examine his targets. His hands shook with terror and shock at what he had done. What he had needed to do. "Jesus christ..." he whispered to no-one, watching as blood spilled from their wounds. What had he done... Taken their lives without a second thought? He sure as hell was second guessing it now. No, he couldn't think like this. It was the only way for him to survive. This hallway was the only way from the atrium to the Overseer's office, and they had been blocking it. They were going to arrest or kill him upon sight, and even if he was arrested he would surely be "accidentally" killed somewhere along the line. No, that was what Jake had to do. The only thing he _could _do.

Jake pulled their pistols from their dead hands, deciding that they weren't going to need them anymore. It was the same situation as Officer Kendall. A dead man had no need to protect himself anymore. He slipped the ammo out of both guns, pocketed it and then placed the spare guns inside his backpack. Jake gave both of the Officers one last look of sorrow, then continued to his destination.

Surprisingly the Vault was practically deserted for the rest of his journey. He did, however, pass Chief Officer Hannon, but Jake was smart enough to keep close to the wall and stay out of sight. He was close to the office now, and escape from this mess was within reach.

The last corner revealed a horrible sight. As he saw the Overseer's office, he glanced inside the window and saw both Alphonse and Steve Mack standing over a figure, slumped in a chair. Jake gripped his pistol tightly, moved to the door and waited.

SMACK!

The sound of flesh on flesh sickened Jake as he listened to what was going on inside the room. "Tell us! Where is he..." That was Alphonse, his voice gravelly and low. "Don't make Officer Mack hit you again."

"I don't know, I swear to god! Please, dad, just stop." Jake tensed up. Amata. His knuckles were white on the handle of his gun. Just as it was before, his mind was out of his control. The other version of himself was taking over, the violent, rage-filled killer. His strides into the room were without fear or worry, but of confidence and purpose.

"Mack." Jake's voice seemed distant to his own ears, far away but strong and deep. "Step away from Amata before I blow your brain all over the wall."

Mack's lips parted in a sadistic smile as he turned to face Jake. Mack was wielding a police baton in his right hand, and had a fistful of Amata's beautiful brown hair in the other. "Sorry, _Jakey_. One swing and she'll be dead. Simple as that. Now, how about you put that gun down."

"Do you honestly think you can swing faster than I can shoot?"

"I don't think you want to see me try."

Jake's eyes drifted from Mack, to Amata and finally to the Overseer. Mack had him locked in a stalemate, while the Overseer would have a chance to pull a weapon the moment he focused his attack on Steve Mack. If he went for the Overseer, Mack would crush Amata's head with his baton immediately. Jake was trapped, and the only way out seemed to be playing along.

"Fine." Jake crouched down, placed his pistol on the floor and stood back to his full height.

"Good," Mack said. "Now kick it over here."

"Do you think I'm fucking stupid?" Jake spat.

Mack gripped Amata's hair tighter, causing her to yelp in pain. "No. I think you're smart enough to know _I'll bash her fucking head in _if you don't. Now, kick it over here, Rickard. That's the way, nice and easy now."

Jake pushed the pistol out of his reach with his big toe, and that seemed to satisfy Mack. "Good." Mack raised his baton wielding arm and spoke quickly into his Pip-Boy. "Chief, we've got him in the Overseer's office. Get here as fast as you can."

Jake stared in disbelief. There was no escape anymore. He would be arrested, thrown in a cell and most likely left to rot for the rest of his life. His face must have betrayed his emotions, as Mack began to sneer.

"You're fucked and you know it, Rickard. The Chief is gonna kill you, and no-one here will breathe a word of what actually happened. Not even this bitch," he growled, tugging on Amata's hair viciously. She screamed in pain. Hearing her in pain like that felt like a knife to the gut for Jake, and there wasn't a god damn thing he could do about it.

"Amata..." Jake started. "I'm so sorry. I wish I could stop this, but I can't. I love you."

Amata looked at Jake through water-filled eyes. "I love you too, Jakey."

Mack cackled with laughter at that. "You two are pathetic. Weak, and pathetic."

Jake flared up at the remark, and the baton to the back of the knees was probably a good thing as it stopped him from moving to strangle Mack. Tendons and bones on fire, Jake fell to the ground in agony. He had a moment's respite before the baton came down on his ribs, once, twice. He flopped to the side, roaring in sheer pain. Jake's sight temporarily disappeared, then he came to again with stars splashed across his vision. The outline of a face hovering above him was all he could really make out. It became clear that Chief Hannon was towering above him, baton in hand. "You thought you'd get away, just like daddy huh? You couldn't be more wrong. You're going to die here, Rickard. You'll bleed all over this floor and I'm going to make your pretty little fuck buddy watch."

"That's my daughter, Hannon," Alphonse intruded. "You watch your mouth or you'll end up without one."

"Yeah, who's gonna do what _you _say, Alphonse? Mack reports to me, not you."

"You're lying. Mack's loyal to me, and no-one else."

"Sorry, Alphonse. Your time's up." Mack laughed from his position beside Amata. "My father will replace you soon enough."

"Now, young Master Rickard. Whatever shall we do with-" Hannon's words were interrupted by a series of loud cracks and the rain of shattered glass. The window had exploded inwards under the force of half a dozen 10mm rounds and now shards of glass were flying across the room dangerously. Jake saw a spray of red splash off Hannon's shoulder and force him to fall away from Jake. He used the moment of respite to get to his feet and rush straight for Mack. The Officer was too busy ducking behind Amata's chair for cover to notice Jake charging at full speed at him. As he approached, Jake dropped his shoulder and crunched straight into him and the pair went rolling away across the floor. More lead was flying through the room, this time from Hannon and the Overseer who returned the barrage at Jake and Amata's saviour. Neither of the Vault high-ups seemed to notice Jake and Mack wrestling for control of the baton in the corner of the room.

A swift right hook from Jake bought him enough time to glance at the window to see who had come to their rescue. He could vaguely make out Officer Gomez standing in the gap, firing wildy at the pair of assholes on the far side of the room. Then, unexpectedly Jake saw another figure enter the room via the door. Leather jacket. Hair slicked back and a small black object in hand. Butch DeLoria, suddenly full of courage had also come to their rescue. "Rickard!" he bellowed over the gunshots. "Catch!"

Throwing an elbow in Mack's already bloody face, Jake swivelled to receive an across-the-room-pass from Butch. The small black object stuck in his right hand, and with all the momentum he could muster, Jake swung around, clicked the object open and thrust it into Mack's Adam's Apple. Blood sprayed all over Jake's chest from the large wound, but he didn't even flinch. Bullet's still being traded across the room, Jake grasped Mack's collar with his free hand and wrenched the switchblade from his throat. Mack dropped to his knees, eyes wide and staring into Jake's own. Clutching desperately to both life and Jake's jumpsuit, he knew it was over. He was done. He'd made a grave mistake to fuck with the man standing above him. "Pathetic," Jake spat. "Weak and pathetic. Die, you motherfucking asshole."

With one final gurgle, Mack feel to his hands, then to the floor and eventually into the abyss of death.

Jake turned to look about the room and saw that both Hannon and Alphonse had retreated from the room via another exit. He gave a quick nod of thanks to Gomez, and went to Amata. Kneeling down, he planted a large, passionate kiss on her lips which she returned in kind. They broke away, and Amata stared into his eyes. He saw too many emotions to count, but fear, amazement and anger were prevelant among them. "You..." she glanced at Mack's bleeding corpse.

"I know... I know. Am, he would have done the same to both of us. It's horrible, but I needed to end it." She nodded, then grimaced in what looked like pain. "Are you OK?" Jake asked, placing a hand on her cheek.

"My hip.. It feels like it's burning." He moved to the other side of her ad examined the problem. It wasn't hard to figure out. Blood was spilling into her jumpsuit, staining it from the inside. "Amata..."

She glanced down and her eyes widened in shock. "I..."

"Don't panic, it's OK. I promise." Jake moved to the back of her, where her hands were bound by a small length of rope. Severing it with the switchblade then passing the switchblade back to Butch, Jake helped Amata to her feet. His ribs and knee screamed in pain, but right now he couldn't care less.

"Fucking hell..." Butch whispered as he saw the wound on Amata's side. "Was that Gomez or the other two?

"No idea, Butch, but it doesn't really fucking matter at the moment does it?" Jake said angrily. "Look, I need to get us out of here. Tell Gomez that I'm glad he helped us, and I hope he doesn't get shot for it. You too. I appreciate it."

"Don't thank me, Rickard. You and your dad have caused a lot of shit today, and that's not just going to go away when you leave. Someone needs to take a stand against the Overseer and Hannon, and I'm gonna be that guy. You better hurry up and get out of here."

Jake simply nodded. With that, he and Amata headed to the terminal at the end of the room. Thankfully no stray bullets had hit it, unlike Amata. Thinking for only a few seconds, Jake punched in the password which was only too obvious: Amata. The one person that Alphonse really cared about. The two of them stepped back as the Overseer's desk slid backwards to reveal a flight of stairs that led to an area below the office.

There was no resistance down here, as Jake assumed. As well as that, there was no resistance by the door due to Jake apparently being in the Overseer's office. All security would have been redirected there when Mack put the call to Hannon. It made sense that Gomez would have also heard the call and came to the rescue, picking up Butch along the way.

"Hang in there, Am," Jake whispered, kissing her softly on the top of the head as he helped her along. Every now and then she would grunt or groan in pain, which made his stomach turn every time. He had to set her down briefly when he keyed the controls for the large iron door that lay in front of them, but then got her to her feet again (with some difficulty). Alarms rang, sirens blared and the door slid to the side, revealing a dirt path covered in grime and rubbish. As the pair moved slowly through the door, they could see signs lying discarded on the ground that read, "We're dying, ASSHOLES!" and "Let us in, motherfuckers!". They must be from when the Vault closed, Jake thought.

A wooden door was at the very end of the tunnel. Beside it lay a skeleton, who Jake assumed must have owned one of the signs. If this was a sign of things to come, taking their chances against the Vault and its security seemed like a more attractive option. With a giant push, the wooden door swung open and into the Capital Wasteland stepped Jake Rickard and Amata Almodovar.

The sun was bright. Very bright.


	5. Author's Note 1

**Author's Note #1**

Hi everyone,

In case you haven't noticed it yet, I haven't updated with a new chapter in quite a while. I'm not sure exactly how long but it's been at least 2 weeks. Please, don't take that to mean that I'm leaving this fiction for dead, because that is definitely NOT the case. This is very much alive, and the fact that I'm taking the time to write this Aythor's Note is evidence enough (at least it is in my opinion).

On the topic of why I haven't been updating, there are a few explanations. The first and most relevant is that I was slightly burnt out on the story for just a moment there. I tend to get bored very quickly when starting new projects, and I generally lack the motivation to continue on with them. The fact that it took me 15,000+ words, four chapters and about two weeks to get Jake, James and Amata out of the Vault was a good indicator of just how long it's going to take for me to write this fiction. As I've previously stated, this story is going to deviate from the game in a big way, in terms of characters and plot elements. To tell the truth, I'm really just using the Capital Wasteland as a backdrop for my own ideas and story, one that revolves around the characters of Jake and Amata. I won't say too much on the topic, so nothing is spoiled and you guys can read without knowing what's going to happen, but I will say this: the Jake and Amata we se and know about now are susceptible to change, much like anyone else would be in their situation. Leaving the safety and organisation of the Vaylt, to fight for existence in a dirty, grim and death filled world would affect anybody, and to say differently is naive. In short, I have some huge, possibly outrageous, ideas for this story and I plan on seeing them through to their very end.

Moving on to what else is going on, I've just started working on a proper novel. A work of fiction that is completely, 100% my own, that I hope to finish and maybe even get published (that's a real long shot, but who knows?). But, as with anything, it's going to be a long process and takes up a lot of time, some of which would have been originally spent on writing _Wastes_. But, the point is, I enjoy writing and both of these projects are alive and enjoyable. Never fear!

I feel I should mention that chapter 5 of _Wastes_ is about 1/6 completed, because I was a little picky about how I should start it out. The most recent chapter was grim, dark and dangerous, so I wanted that feeling to carry over to this new installment. I feel like I've got a good start, all I need to do is carry on with that and I should have a new chapter in the next week or two (most likely a week and a half, but I've never been great with deadlines, especially self imposed ones).

Thank you for everything guys. The positive feedback I received for the first 4 chapters was very inspirational, and was what drove me to start the novel I'm working on. The fact that there are people out there that like to read what I write, and enjoy my style of writing is really great to have sitting in the back of my mind whilst I tap away at the keyboard. So all in all, thanks for being supportive, and I shall ensure that I at least post chapter 5 in the next fortnight.

- Walshy


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: "Into the jaws of hell"

**A/N: It's been a while coming, but here it is: chapter 5 of Wastes. As always, this chapter comes with an M rating, so please don't cry if you get offended by any of the material discussed or detailed in this chapter/fanfiction. Oh, and I don't own the Fallout series, that's property of Bethesda. On with the show!**

After spending 19 years in the Vault, Jake had assumed that he would never see the sun. Fiery, bright and warm, it hung in bleak sky like an omnipresent spotlight. Just this one aspect of the outside world was warning enough, telling him just how different things were out here. No longer was he safe and comfortable, but in danger and scared shitless.

Jake assisted Amata to the ground and propped her up against the side of a small rockface.

"What are you doing?" she asked weakly, and only then did he realise how bad her condition was.

"We need to treat that, or you'll bleed out." Jake unzipped the backpack and produced a stimpack, med-x and some of the purified water.

"Don't..." She groaned. "Don't waste it on me. Please, you're going to need it more than me. I'm dead weight out here."

"Don't you ever say that again, Amata. This isn't a waste. It's going to save your life, and right now I can't think of a better use for it."

His hands took hold of her jumpsuit, and with a quick tug it tore apart enough so he could really see her wound. It was worse than he thought; blood was still spilling slowly from it and judging from the amount that was already staining both her jumpsuit, his hands and the ground, it was going to keep going like that unless something was done to stop it. Firstly he passed Amata a pair of med-x tablets and a bottle of the water and told her to swallow them. They would mask a lot of the pain, but due to the size and depth of the wound he doubted that it would completely relieve her.

A splash or two of clean water on the wound was enough to wash it out, or at least mostly. Jake only did it after she had begun to feel the effects of the med-x, so that the stinging wouldn't be too bad. Still, she squirmed and gasped when it happened, making him cringe at the sound of her in more pain. He pressed on, trying to block out the sounds she was making.

Before long the wound was clean enough, so Jake bottled the water and placed it back into the backpack that he had discarded absently. The next part he wasn't entirely sure about; he had seen his father treating patients in the clinic before, but he had never really payed attention to the specifics. With a mental kick for not taking note, Jake popped the cap off the end of the stimpack and aimed slightly above the red mess that was her gunshot wound. The med-x seemed to be doing its job and completely numbed the feeling of the needle entering Amata's vein, as Jake injected the fluids that would speed her healing process. Despite the speed at which the stimpack worked, she would still be in pain for quite a while until the torn muscles, veins and flesh could knit themselves back together. What she really needed was a doctor, someone who actually knew what they were doing, but right now that wasn't really an option.

They stayed there for a minute or two, allowing Amata time to come back to her senses somewhat. Jake made her sip from the almost empty bottle of water, and tried to keep her as still as possible. He couldn't risk her making the wound worse by making sudden and eratic movements. While she sat propped against a rock, Jake took a moment to take in his surroundings.

Nothing. That was his first impression. Just a big pile of shit all. Everything was so bleak, grey and dirty, without sign of a single tree that wasn't dead or dying. Whatever structures lay scattered across the landscape were crumbled, collapsed or so decadent he didn't want to go within fifty feet of them. Could it be at all possible that _anyone _was still alive out here? Had they just wandered into their own death and starvation? At least they still had a chance out here. Back in the Vault they would have no chance of survival, not with all of the security detail searching every square inch for the pair of them.

Just as he was about to turn away, Jake noticed something on the horizon. Large walls, at least that's what they seemed like. Sloped, and from the look of it dirty as hell, which meant that it fit right in with everything else out here. From a distance he couldn't be sure what it was exactly, but if the walls held a city of people, then they might just be in luck. Maybe.

"Amata," Jake said softly, crouching down next to her. He grasped her hand and squeezed it gently. "Look at me, Am," he whispered, and her eyes locked with his. He could tell she was still in pain, her eyes said as much. Desperation, agony and fear clouded her gaze. "I think I've found something, it looks like a city. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's the best chance we've got. You need to hop up now, OK? Think you can do that?" Her nod was weak, but she tried her best to get back to her feet, with the aid of Jake's strong arms. Once Jake had her standing, he slipped his backpack back onto his wide shoulders, grasped her tightly and together they set off towards the structure in the distance.

The high walls became clearer the longer they walked, and after 20 minutes of slow trekking across the dusty wastes, Jake could make out the sloping, rusted metal quite clearly. It was a strange sight; most of the other buildings in the immediate area were constructed from wood, stone or brick, but here was this domineering steel wall rising high over the wasteland. Jake's mind raced with hundreds, even thousands of questions that he needed answered, many about the nature of the structure in front of him. Maybe the people inside could answer them, assuming there even was anyone inside.

As soon as the pair came within 50 metres of the wall, a voice rang out over the hilly landscape. Jake could hardly make out what it was saying, but he stopped moving nonetheless. Amata squirmed in his arms a little, clearly wondering what was going on. A quick kiss on the cheek and some hushed reassurances sufficed to keep her calm.

"You! Stay exactly where you are, or you'll take a point-five-oh through the skull." The voice seemed to be coming from an elevated position, but Jake really didn't want to risk looking around, just in case the deep voice was serious about capping him; judging from what he had heard about the dangers and horrors of the wastes, he believed the man entirely.

"Someone's coming out to talk, stay there. You have about seven rifles aimed at you right now, so don't try to be a hero." A soon as the sentence finished, a high pitched squealing noice echoed from an alcove in the structure of the walls. The squeal lasted only for a second, as it turned into a low rumbling and creaking. Stealing a quick glance at the dark alcove, Jake saw that a gate like object was rising, and through it stepped a pair of men. It didn't take long for him to notice the vicious looking rifles in their hands, were both aimed directly at Jake and Amata.

Swearing softly, Jake's mind began to race even faster. Were these people friendly and simply being cautious of the newcomers? Did they intend to shoot them on the spott? Either way, the only way Jake could see out of the situation was to simply stand there and wait for them to come to him. If what the voice had said before about them being targeted by at least seven guns was true, then fighting the pair advancing towards them would be the worst idea possible.

As they neared, their features became clearer. The man in the lead had dark skin and wore a worn, grey cowboy hat that looked anything but intimidating, along with a long duster that halted above his leather boots. A thick beard framed his jaw and mouth, and his eyes bored straight into Jake's own. Even from this distance he could see that the man sported a silver badge on the right hand side of his chest, adding to the almost comedical look that he seemed to prefer. However the sheer size of this man, his broad shoulders and bulging muscles told Jake that fucking with him was not an intelligent idea in the slightest.

The man bringing up the rear was far less intimidating. He wore a white (well as white as it could be under the circumstances) beanie and an eyepatch strapped over his right eye. He had a scrap of a beard that hung from his chin, and narrow shoulders that suggested he was about half the size of the man he was following. Altogether he looked more like he was scared than anything else.

The pair halted twenty feet away from Jake and Amata, catching a good view of the Vault Jumpsuits they were wearing. With a quick glance over his shoulder at the smaller man, the cowboy lowered his rifle an inch or two and spoke in a low voice. "Who are you two?"

Seeing as Amata wasn't in any position to do much of anything, Jake responded. "I'm Jake Rickard and this is Amata Almodovar. We're from Vault 101, and we need help. She's been shot," Jake indicated the blood stained patch of her jumpsuit. "I tried to patch her up as best I could, but she's starting to get a fever and she's already lost too much blood."

The man looked deep in thought for a moment or two, then replied. "You're from the Vault? The one just over the hills there?"

"Yes," Jake nodded.

The man looked Jake up and down, then his head twitched in what Jake assumed was a nod. "Quick, you better get inside. We have a doctor who can help her." The man motioned to his companion, who stepped forward and tried to take Amata into his hold. "No," Jake said. "I've got her." The eyepatch-man stepped back and looked to the other for instructions, but simply waved his hand dismissively.

The cowboy-man led the four of them toward the alcove, shouting to the air, "Stockholm! Stand down, we're bringing them in." Jake looked up and around, trying to figure out who the man was talking to, and eventually spotted a small catwalk that was set into the "battlements" of the walls, with a figure only slightly visible on it. Jake assumed that he was the mystery man, and focused on making sure the gate didn't clip him on the way up.

As the four stepped into the city, Jake got a wide and detailed view of it's interior. Much like the rusted walls, many of the buildings and shelters were constructed from sheets of metal that looked like they had been scavenged from something else. Signs hung over some of the larger buildings, and Jake could barely make out what appeared to be some sort of saloon on the top level of the town's ramp system, which was like a cobweb covering the city from top to bottom. It was truly a sight to behold, with people milling about as they went about their business and chatted away. Jake remembered reading about pre-war civilisation, and how throughout history people had banded together in groups in order to thrive. Even in this desolate wasteland, with little hope left for anyone, these people had come together with a common goal: survival.

The cowboy-man hurried down a steep slope, calling over his shoulder for Jake to hurry as much as he could. "She's getter paler by the second, man," Eyepatch said, with a worried look on his face. Jake grunted in acknowledgement and repositioned himself to get a better hold on Amata, as she began to slip. Her strength, or what little was left of it, was draining fast. If she didn't get the attention she needed, Jake knew that the worst would become the likeliest possibilities.

As he struggled to hold his already unsteady footing down the incline, Jake noticed something that set his nerves off again. At the base of the slope, in the centre of town and surrounded by a murky pool of water lay a large metal object. It was a similar shape to the little fish drawings he had done as a child, the ones that were an endless loop, just like the infinity symbol. Except the object in front of him was far less innocent and childish. Jake had read about these in History class; Mr. Brotch had found it necessary to teach them about these things, seeing as they were a large part of recent history.  
A nuclear bomb sat in the middle of this city, clearly undetonated and for the moment quite safe. In any case, the fact that it was sitting there made Jake sweat. How could these people live next to a _bomb_? As much as he would have liked to stay and ask questions, or even just gape at the 15 foot tall hunk of metal and explosive power, Amata was still his number one priority.

"Up here," Cowboy said, stepping lightly onto the metal strip in front of the entrance to one of the larger buildings on the lower rung of the ramp system. He smashed his fist against the heavy looking door a couple of times, the noise so loud that some of the people on the other side of the crater-like town centre turned to see what the commotion was. Giving them a quick glance, Jake noticed that a fair few of them were staring curiously at both him and Amata, or more specifically their attire. Clearly, Vault Dwellers weren't something the people of this town were used to.

Suddenly the door swung open with an screech, revealing a dark skinned man with a crop of white hair, and an equally colourless beard. His plain shirt was smeared with the faintest bit of blood, giving him both an intimidating and hard working look. "What the hell is your problem, Simms?" he said angrily, addressing the cowboy-man.  
"We have a wounded girl here who needs your attention, Church," Cowboy replied simply, indicating Amata. The older man looked her up and down and replied, "She looks fine to me."

"Church we don't have time for your shit," Cowboy snarled. "She's been shot, and if you don't help her you might regret it."

Church stared Cowboy down for a second or two, then let out his breath. "Fine," he said. "Bring her inside." Jake didn't need any more telling than that. He hurried up the stairs and into the rusted building without wasting a single second. The interior of the building was almost as decrepit as the outside, with ruined books lying about the place and half broken shelves pressed against the walls. There were a few doors which lead to other areas of the building, which looked like they contained beds and Church's own personal quarters. Was this what the town had for a hospital?  
"Set her down here," Church grumbled, moving to an operating table on the far side of the room. "Good," he said, as Jake placed her gently on the table. "Now get the fuck out."

Jake blinked. "What?"

"Get the fuck out! Or don't you understand english?" Church didn't even give him so much as a second glance as he moved to a desk and retrieved a first aid kit, along with some surgical implements.

"I want to stay!" Jake exclaimed, starting to get angry at the man in front of him.

"If you don't stay out of my face, _boy_, then I won't be able to work properly. Now, get the fuck out!" Church still wasn't looking at him, but placing a variety of knives and other equipment on a relatively clean looking trolley.

Opening his mouth to say something that he most likely would have regretted, Cowboy - Simms - placed a hand on his shoulder. Jake looked sideways to the bigger man, and saw him give him a look that told him to shut the hell up. "Thanks for helping, Church. We'll stop by this evening to see how things are going, if that's OK with you."

"Come back tomorrow morning," Church snapped, and judging by the look on his face, that was all that he had to say about that. After giving the doctor a look of disgust he couldn't see, Jake then turned and exited through the door. Simms and Eyepatch were close behind him.

The sound of the heavy metal door swinging shut was like a gong that signalled a release in Jake. Emotions that he had been holding back for the last few hours suddenly burst to the surface, all in one gigantic wave. Anger, fear, sadness and uncertainty were prevalent among them. As tears began to well in his eyes, Jake took a few deep breaths and rubbed at them to try and cover up the fact that he was having a breakdown in front of these two strange men.

"Listen, kid," Simms said in his gruff voice. "She's gonna be fine. If anyone can fix her up, it'll be Church. Despite how much of an asshole he can be, he knows medicine like I know a rifle. She's in good hands."

Jake turned to face the two men, regaining control of himself. "Thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am that you let us in."

"Don't mention it. As long as you don't go causing any trouble, which you don't seem likely to be doing anyway, we won't have a problem. I'm Lucas Simms, by the way. Town Mayor, but Sheriff when the need arises. This here's Billy Creel, a good friend and a good man."

Eyepatch extended his hand, and Jake shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you, friend. Sorry we had to hold you at gunpoint before, just procedure."

"I understand. Well, I don't really, but I guess it would make sense."

Simms nodded. "You've been cooped up in that damn Vault all your life, you wouldn't know. Look, I'd love to stick around and explain, but I've got stuff to atend to. If you ever need help, I'll be around." He smiled a broad smile and then headed off up one of the ramps, making his way to the top levels of the city.

Billy Creel smiled widely at Jake. "Looks like you're stuck with me, friend. Feel like something to eat?" Nodding weakly, Jake accepted. Leading him around the crater, Billy took a seat at some sort of bar, that had a sign saying "The Brass Lantern" over it. There were a few fridges laid up against the wall behind the bar, and a woman with pale skin, slightly orange hair and a yellow jumpsuit leaning against the metallic building. As the pair of men sat down at the bar, she wandered over and greeted them with a cheery smile.

"Mornin' fellas. What can I get for ya?"

"I'll take two Brahmin steaks please, Jenny," Billy answered kindly. Jenny nodded, went to the door of the actual building and disappeared inside for a minute or two. Whilst she was gone, the pair began to talk.

"Don't worry about paying for this, kid. I don't expect ya to have any caps to pay with anyway. Consider it a welcome to the Wasteland and Megaton."

Thousands of questions were running through Jake's mind again, but there was only one he could think to actually say. "Megaton? What's that?"

With a sweep of his arm, as if presenting something grand, Billy smiled once more. "You're sitting in it. Megaton, the city that built itself around a god damn bomb. I saw you eyeing it when we came in. Don't worry, it's relatively safe."

"Relatively?"

"Well it hasn't blown us up yet, has it?" Billy chuckled at his own joke, but when he realised Jake wasn't laughing he stopped. "Oh come on, kid. Lighten up a bit. Your friend, Amata? She's going to be better than ever once Doc Church fixes her up. And the Wasteland isn't so bad, as long as you stay with the right people. By that I mean us, and by not so bad I mean a complete shit heap. But still, it's home."

Jenny returned with two steaks almost as soon as Billy finished his sentence. She placed them down on the bar, and in return Billy fished around in his jacket for a moment, then produced a handful of small metal pieces. He handed them to her, obviously as some sort of payment. "Wait," Jake said to Jenny. "Can I see those please?"

"Sure," she replied, passing him one of the small objects. "I guess it's kind of new to you out here huh, what with being in the Vault all your life. They're caps, basically our money out in this big bad world."

Jake passed her the cap back, then unzipped his bag. He searched through it for a few seconds until his fingers brushed a few familiar feeling objects. Pulling out a handful of metal, Jake spilled them onto the table.

"Holy shit!" Billy exclaimed, examining the caps Jake had just tossed to the bar. "There's 25 of these bad boys. That's a handy start there, Jake. Where'd you find these?"  
"I found them in my father's office, back in the Vault." His father. For a while, he had forgotten his father. The rush of trying to find Amata help had completely erased it from his mind. "Is 25 a lot?"  
Billy replied through a mouthful of steak, as Jenny moved off to help another customer further along the bar. "No, not really. I mean, it'll get you a room for a couple of nights and cover your meals, but you're gonna need to find more."

Jake nodded, and took a bite of the steak that Billy had bought for him. It was chewy, but not bad. It was nothing like the food back in the Vault, but it would have to do. "Do you know where I can rent a room?"

"Yep, up at Moriarty's, the saloon on the top level. Just talk to Nova, she'll set you up."  
"How will I know who Nova is?"

"Just look for the woman in leather. But," he added, "I'd make very clear that you don't want to sleep with her. Unless of course you and Amata aren't together like I assumed."

Jake nearly choked on the steak, inciting laughter in his companion. "I'll take that as a yes then," Billy chuckled. "Nova's a prostitute, kid. She'll just let you have the bed though, as long as you pay her."

"That sounds... good, I guess." The pair of them sat there, eating away for a few minutes without really saying anything. Finally, the big question that was burning in Jake's mind couldn't be held back anymore. "Billy, I need to know something. I'm looking for my father. That's mostly the reason Amata and I are out here in the first place; he escaped the Vault, and the Overseer wasn't exactly happy about it. They tried to take the two of us, but one of the officers and a guy from our class helped save our asses. But Amata got shot in the fight, and when we ended up out here the only place I could think of going was the one off in the distance with the big metal walls. If I had that thought process, then maybe my dad did as well. Please, you have to have seen him come through here?"

"I can't say I remember seeing any other Vaulties out here, but then again he might have come pretty early in the morning. What does he look like?"

"About my size, but with brown hair and a brown beard. He'd either be wearing a Vault jumpsuit or a white lab coat."

Billy looked thoughtful, but then shook his head. "Sorry, kid. I don't remember. If he did come through here though, he would have gone up to Moriarty's. You could try asking around up there, some of the regulars might have seen him or met him. Be careful though, Moriarty's more of an asshole than Church. Don't let him con you into taking your caps."

"Got it."

Once they had finished eating, they stood up from the bar and stretched their limbs. Scratching his face and wondering what to do to kill some time before the sun began to set, Jake had an idea. "How could I earn some more caps around here?"

"Well that all depends on your skillset," Billy said, thinking. "If you've got some skill with a gun, head out of town to the caravans and they'll hire you as a mercenary. It's obviously dangerous work, but from what I've heard the pay is extremely good. Although, if you don't want to leave town for too long and you have some stuff to sell, you could head up to the Craterside Supply. It's on the level below the saloon and the woman that runs it, Moira, always gives a good price."

"I don't know about being a mercenary. I can handle a gun fairly well, but risking my life isn't high on my priority list at the moment. I think I'll head up to the Supply then."

"Alright, kid. See you around."

"Yeah, thanks for the meal, Billy." The two half waved to each other, and with that Jake began his ascent on the ramps. The climb was strenuous, but mostly due to the heat than anything else. The sun was going to take a little getting used to.

* * *

He had been watching the boy ever since he walked through the gate. The Vault jumpsuit was enough to give it away, but he couldn't be entirely sure. This kid had blonde hair, but the face was more or less the same, at least from a distance. He would have to make sure to meet the newest Vault dweller in town, as well as the pretty girl with the brown hair and perfect rack. Maybe she would be desperate enough to get in bed with him for a cap or two. She would sure as hell beat Nova, that bitch had bored him years ago.

Moriarty puffed out his lungful of smoke and ran a hand through his silver hair. With a jab against the railing, his cigarette was out as quickly as it had been lit. A flick of the wrist and it was sailing down to the pool of water that surrounded the irradiated bomb. Staring into the distance for just a moment, he spat a lump of mucus and saliva after the butt, then headed back inside. Him and Nova had business to attend to.

**A/N: OK, so a few things. The first thing is I'm very sorry for the huge delay in getting this chapter out. I had a lot going on over the last few weeks, and it all ultimately took precedence over writing fanfiction (as sad as that is). But in any case, it's here and hopefully it was worth the wait. To be perfectly honest I kind of rushed it, because I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer. However, I'll take more time with the next few chapters, which incidentally should be coming sooner than this one did. One week, tops. The second thing, obviously this fanfic has an M rating, for some fairly obvious reasons. As you saw in some of the previous chapters, I'm not exactly shy when it comes to the private time with Amata and Jake. Now that Moriarty has been introduced to the story, however briefly, that's going to kick up a notch because this is the way I've decided to portray him. It might not be exactly the same as the game, but isn't that the whole point?  
Thank you for reading everyone, and if you could let me know what you thought in a review that would be wonderful.**


End file.
